Market Regulator of India, SEBI has brought a series of amendments amending all the major regulations applicable to the entities under its regulatory ambit. With this SEBI has brought a circular for streamlining the information available in the centralized database, in order to provide ease of access of information to the investors. In the Circular some enhanced disclosure requirements are required to be ensured by the issuers, while responsibility is placed upon the shoulders of credit rating agencies and debenture trustees to verify the information given by the issuer as well as notify the discrepancies if any to the stock exchanges. This Circular is applicable for all recognized stock exchanges, registered depositories, registered credit rating agencies, debenture trustees, and issuer of listed debt securities.
On Depositories
The role of depositories is almost the same as that under the 2013 Circular. However, there is one requirement that comes as a result of the Circular, which is, categorization of the investors as per the SEBI circular earlier. This circular requires the depository to categorize the investors in 3 categories –
On Stock Exchange
The stock exchanges are required to verify all listing-related information filed by the issuer with the depository. Further, a new annexure has been added, the information under which is required to be filed with the stock exchanges periodically, whenever there is a change, and the stock exchanges shall update the same in the centralized database as and when received.
On Credit Rating Agencies
The information filed by the issuer wrt credit rating is required to be verified by the credit rating agencies. Further, where there is any discrepancy in the information, the Credit Rating Agencies have to notify the stock exchanges in respect of the same, along with updating the information in the database.
On Debenture Trustees
The debenture trustees are required to verify all information relating to the default history of the issuer and in case any discrepancy is noted, it has to notify the same stock exchanges along with updating the same in the database.
On issuer of Debt Securities
The primary responsibility of providing the information is cast upon the issuer. The list of information as required is given in the Circular. This Circular is the updated version of the 2013 Circular, and hence, no information as required earlier has been discontinued, only additional requirements/ modification of existing requirements have been made in place.
Legal Entity Identifier
In 2013 Circular it was not required but now it is required to be disclosed for both the issuer as well as group companies
Details of the group companies
In 2013 Circular it was not required but now it is required along with the name, CIN, LEI, the details of the relationship of the company with the issuer are also required to be given. The issuer is also required to file Annex-II with the stock exchanges within 1 working day of any change in the said details. The details include the following –
The Circular, like any other measure of SEBI, is to ensure more transparency in the information of corporate bonds/ debentures wherein responsibility has been cast upon various sources of information in order to ensure that the information is not only available in the centralized database, but also the same is verified and updated on a real-time basis.
This Article Does Not Intend To Hurt The Sentiments Of Any Individual Community, Sect, Or Religion Etcetera. This Article Is Based Purely On The Authors Personal Views And Opinions In The Exercise Of The Fundamental Right Guaranteed Under Article 19(1)(A) And Other Related Laws Being Force In India, For The Time Being. Further, despite all efforts that have been made to ensure the accuracy and correctness of the information published, White Code Legal and Tax shall not be responsible for any errors caused due to human error or otherwise.
